Political cartoonist Ted Rall and CIA whistleblower John Kiriakou catch you up from the weekend in news. Among the highlights: Trump’s Epstein flip-flop, Chile chooses between extreme left and right, Iran stops uranium enrichment, and the US plan for Gaza gets bogged down in the Security Counsel.

• Trump's Sudden Epstein Files Reversal: Trying to avoid a humiliating defeat in the House, President Trump now urges House Republicans to back a measure compelling the Justice Department to release Epstein files, marking a sharp pivot after his campaign to quash GOP dissent and halt the vote after the shutdown. He posts on social media, insisting Republicans vote yes "because we have nothing to hide," while dismissing the push as a "Democrat Hoax" to deflect from Republican victories like averting a shutdown. This turn follows intense White House pressure, including Situation Room meetings with his AG and FBI director, amid scrutiny over newly released emails where Epstein claims Trump spent hours at his home with a trafficking victim; tensions erupt with allies like Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene.

• Chile's Presidential Runoff Pits Left Against Far-Right: Chile's election heads to a December 14 runoff between Communist Party's Jeannette Jara, who edges out the first round, and far-right José Antonio Kast, amid surging crime and immigration debates fueled by 1.9 million foreigners, including 330,000 undocumented Venezuelans. Jara pledges lithium production increases, minimum wage hikes, new prisons, and army border deployments to expel drug-trafficking foreigners, warning that democracy faces risks after costly recoveries. Kast vows Trump-style walls, ditches along Peru-Bolivia borders, mass deportations, and El Salvador-like maximum-security prisons, blaming migrants for crime despite studies showing lower offense rates; his Pinochet-linked family history and anti-abortion stance rally splintered right-wing votes from Evelyn Matthei and Johannes Kaiser, potentially tilting Chile rightward in Latin America's shifting tides.

• UN Security Council Clashes Over Gaza Resolution: The U.S. pushes a resolution annexing Trump's 20-point Gaza peace plan for international mandate, seeking UN backing for stabilization forces and a vague Board of Peace, but Russia counters with its own 10-point resolution demanding Palestinian statehood and unity of West Bank-Gaza, omitting U.S.-favored structures. China aligns with Russia, while Algeria, France, and Europeans demand clearer Palestinian Authority roles and self-determination pathways; the U.S. finalizes minimal changes, adding six-month progress reports but deferring statehood to the plan, prompting accusations of rushing texts that sideline Council authority. Tensions peak as Russia decries U.S. discord-sowing, with joint U.S. statements from Qatar, Egypt, UAE, Indonesia, and Pakistan hailing the plan as a "viable path," yet veto threats loom in a deadlock echoing two years of Gaza stalemates.

• Iran Halts Uranium Enrichment: Iran's Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi declares that no uranium enrichment is taking place at any site, following June bombings by Israel and the U.S. on facilities now under IAEA safeguards and monitoring. He affirms Iran's "undeniable" right to peaceful nuclear tech, including enrichment, vowing never to relinquish it while hoping for U.S. recognition to resume talks. This statement emerges during an AP-hosted summit on "International Law Under Assault," where Iranian analysts critique the 12-day war, spotlighting German Chancellor Friedrich Merz's praise for Israel's "dirty work." What’s Iran trying to do?

Battles over academic freedom and executive power today’s episode of “DeProgram with Ted Rall and John Kiriakou.” Texas A&M bans advocacy of “race or gender ideology,” an Indiana professor is suspended after a Trump-allied senator intervenes over a graphic labeling “Make America Great Again” as covert white supremacy, Senator John Fetterman is hospitalized again, a secret 40-page DOJ memo with odd reasoning justifies Trump’s lethal boat strikes, and new DNA analysis of Hitler blood reveals a rare genetic marker linked to delayed puberty, undescended testicles, and possible Kallmann syndrome.

• Texas A&M Censors Professors: Texas A&M System regents unanimously vote to prohibit courses from advocating “race or gender ideology” without presidential pre-approval and ban teaching anything inconsistent with the approved syllabus. This follows months of GOP accusations of liberal indoctrination and comes after a lecturer was fired in September for recognizing more than two genders. Faculty call it a direct assault on academic freedom; administrators insist it merely “clarifies” existing policy.

• Indiana University Censors Professors: Indiana University suspends social-work lecturer Jessica Adams from teaching after U.S. Senator Jim Banks (R-IN) complains about a pyramid graphic labeling “MAGA” as covert white supremacy. The complaint invokes Indiana’s new “intellectual diversity” law, prompting the dean to file the formal grievance against Adams. Adams says the 20-year-old graphic is standard in social-work education and warns of growing censorship driven by Trump-aligned politicians.

• Time To Resign?: Senator John Fetterman (D-PA) is hospitalized after falling during a morning walk, triggering a ventricular fibrillation flare-up that temporarily stops his heart from pumping correctly. Doctors keep him for observation and medication adjustments; the 56-year-old jokes about his bruised face. This marks another serious health episode following his 2022 stroke and 2023 light-headedness hospitalization. He’s already dodging constituents and behaving erratically. Is it time for Pennsylvania to get new representation?

• Secret DOJ Memo Uses Pretzel Logic to Justify Trump Boat Strikes: Echoing the Bush Adminstration’s “torture memo” by John Yoo, a classified 40-page Justice Department memo justifies Trump’s lethal naval strikes that have killed 80 suspected drug smugglers (and fishermen) by declaring the U.S. in armed conflict with “narco-terrorist” cartels—relying almost entirely on unverified White House claims. The memo treats drug boats as lawful military targets and provides immunity defenses against future murder charges. Critics call it legal cover for extrajudicial killings with no congressional authorization.

• Hitler DNA Reveals Rare Gene: New genetic analysis of verified Hitler blood from his 1945 bunker couch reveals a rare PROK2 mutation linked to Kallmann syndrome, delayed puberty, and possible undescended testicles/micropenis. The study definitively debunks Jewish ancestry rumors and finds extraordinarily high polygenic risk scores for schizophrenia, autism, and ADHD. Researchers stress the findings explain nothing about the Holocaust and warn against stigmatizing these conditions.

Political cartoonist Ted Rall and CIA whistleblower John Kiriakou examine the late child predator Jeffrey Epstein's claims that President Trump "spent hours" at his house with victim Virginia Giuffre and "knew about the girls," Israeli President Isaac Herzog’s belated condemnation of "shocking" settler attacks, and the Trump Organization files for a record 184 H-2A/H-2B foreign workers in 2025—up from 121 in 2021—for Mar-a-Lago servers. Is it really that hard to find good help here at home?

• Epstein-Trump Emails: House Democrats release explosive emails from Epstein's estate, asserting Trump "spent hours" with victim Virginia Giuffre at Epstein's home and "knew about the girls," including underage victims, in exchanges with Ghislaine Maxwell and Michael Wolff dating back to 2011 and 2019. Republicans fire back by unveiling over 20,000 pages of documents, denouncing the selective Democratic picks as a "hoax" timed to overshadow the government shutdown's resolution. Bipartisan momentum builds for a full Epstein files vote next week, despite Trump's vehement denials and White House claims of a smear campaign. Also: what about the rest of the Epstein Files over at the DOJ?

• West Bank Settler Violence: Better decades late than never! Israeli President Herzog finally condemns "shocking and serious" attacks today, where masked settlers torch dairy trucks, farmland, and a mosque in Beit Lid and Deir Sharaf, clashing with soldiers and wounding four Palestinians during olive harvests. Army chief Eyal Zamir echoes the rebuke, pledging to halt the "minority of criminals" diverting forces from counterterrorism, as UN reports October's 260+ incidents—the highest since 2006. Police arrest four Israelis, releasing three while probing arson and assaults, amid accusations of far-right government complicity. Meanwhile, the big question is: why do Israelis live in the West Bank?

• Trump Hires Hundreds of Foreign Workers: The Trump Organization requests a record 184 H-2A/H-2B visas for this year, staffing Mar-a-Lago, golf clubs, and Virginia estates with foreign servers, farmhands, and housekeepers—up from 121 in 2021, totaling 566 approvals. Trump justifies "talent" imports on Fox News, countering wage concerns, yet faces backlash from Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene's X criticism of worker replacement. This follows his September H-1B fee hike to $100,000, highlighting tensions in his deportation push. If the nation’s most prominent critic of immigration can’t find Americans, what’s really happening?

Political cartoonist Ted Rall and CIA whistleblower John Kiriakou cue up the long-awaited Epstein files vote; a Trump Administration investigation of UC Berkeley over a skirmish at a Turning Point protest; the torture of 252 Venezuelans in El Salvador at the behest of the US; JNIM's fuel blockade highlights the rise of Al Qaeda in the Sahel in the wake of French withdrawals.

• DOJ Investigates UC Berkeley Protest Incident: The Justice Department announces an investigation into UC Berkeley after protesters confront Turning Point USA event attendees, with civil rights chief Harmeet Dhillon labeling demonstrators as Antifa operating with impunity. Protests outside Zellerbach Hall feature chants against Trump, a brief scatter from fireworks mistaken for gunshots, and four arrests including one violent off-campus incident. The probe may fold into ongoing UC system scrutiny over antisemitism and diversity practices, while the university condemns violence and cooperates with FBI. Will the White House babysit Turning Point everywhere they go?

• Epstein Files Discharge Petition Reaches 218 Signatures: Rep.-elect Adelita Grijalva affixes the final signature to the bipartisan discharge petition led by Reps. Thomas Massie and Ro Khanna immediately after her swearing-in last night, triggering a seven-legislative-day countdown for the bill forcing full DOJ Epstein files release to hit the House floor. Senior aides estimate a contentious December vote, despite Speaker Mike Johnson's pivot to opposing it and Trump downplaying the matter as a hoax. Three GOP women—Boebert, Greene, and Mace—remain supportive amid White House pressure, with Massie predicting passage and potential Johnson allowing vulnerable members to vote yes.

• Venezuelans Tortured in El Salvador Gulag: A Human Rights Watch and Cristosal report reveals over 252 Venezuelans deported under Trump's policy endure systematic torture, sexual assault, beatings, and inhumane conditions at CECOT mega-prison. Detainees face prolonged incommunicado detention, inadequate food, and abuses after visits by officials like Kristi Noem, with the US paying $4.7 million to El Salvador despite known abuse. Groups demand independent DOJ investigation and halt to third-country deportations, comparing it to Abu Ghraib and accusing Trump administration complicity.

• JNIM Blockade Paralyzes Bamako, Mali: Al-Qaeda affiliate JNIM seals highways since September, imposing fuel blockade on Mali's capital, causing soaring prices, power cuts, school closures, and resident desperation. Ambushs burn tankers, abandon vehicles clog streets, and Western nations evacuate staff as JNIM leverages discontent to pressure military government toward negotiations. Analysts see growing JNIM hold aiming for regime change in Mali and Burkina Faso, with local deals in regions allowing siege lifts for taxes and non-cooperation with forces.

Like you, political cartoonist Ted Rall and CIA whistleblower John Kiriakou took note of the fact that Democrats won the elections—so why are they surrendering on the shutdown/healthcare tax credits showdown? Explore the exploding civil war within the Democratic Party.

• Democratic Traitors Join GOP: Eight Democrats, including Sens. Tim Kaine, Jeanne Shaheen, and Angus King, join Republicans in a 60-40 procedural victory late Sunday, overcoming 14 failed attempts to push a House-passed stopgap measure. This breakthrough, emerging from round-the-clock bipartisan talks, amends the bill to bundle three longer-term appropriations, extend funding through January 30, 2026, and guarantee retroactive pay for furloughed workers—which they would have received anyway—while restoring full SNAP and Veterans Affairs funding through September. Though hurdles like House votes loom, President Trump signals optimism upon returning to the White House, declaring the deal "very close" to ending the crisis as early as this week.

• What Next: The Senate adjourned around 11:15 p.m., reconvening at 11 a.m. this morning amid applause for the motion, with whip notices alerting House members to prepare for votes within 36 hours—their first since September 19. Defector Democrats defend the compromise in a presser, with Shaheen insisting "this was the only deal on the table" and Kaine highlighting secured SNAP relief plus a December vote on expiring ACA tax credits aiding 20 million users, despite holdouts like Sen. John Hickenlooper decrying it as yielding to "strongman" tactics without full healthcare restoration. Will a recalled House release the Epstein files?

• Election Defendants Receive Pardon: Trump issues "full, complete, and unconditional" federal pardons for 77 allies tied to 2020 election subversion, including Rudy Giuliani, Sidney Powell, Mark Meadows, John Eastman, Jenna Ellis, and fake electors from Georgia, Arizona, and Nevada, as proclaimed by Pardon Attorney Ed Martin. This symbolic shield—covering federal charges only, excluding state cases like Georgia's—frames the acts as rectifying a "grave national injustice" to foster "national reconciliation," while also granting clemency to a retired NYPD officer convicted of stalking for China and MLB star Darryl Strawberry for 1995 tax evasion.

• Nord Stream Sabotage Probe: German investigators say they have a "clear picture" linking the 2022 Baltic Sea pipeline blasts—aimed at slashing Russia's oil revenues and Germany ties—to an elite Ukrainian military unit under then-commander Valerii Zaluzhnyi, commander of the Ukrainian Armed Forces and now ambassador to London, per a Wall Street Journal report. Tracking boat rentals, phones, plates, and a speed-camera photo identified via facial recognition, authorities issue warrants for three Ukrainian soldiers and four deep-sea divers, including unit leader Serhii K., a 46-year-old SBU veteran traced from Poland (via diplomatic BMW) to Italy, where extradition hearings loom by December. This three-year probe, threatening Ukraine's European support, exposes rifts as Zaluzhnyi denies involvement, potentially straining Berlin-Kyiv relations amid ongoing trials.

Political cartoonist Ted Rall and CIA whistleblower John Kiriakou updates you on the chilling US military base scare, a courtroom triumph for the nation’s most famous lunchmeat tosser, and a fierce congressional clash over war powers.

• Kazakhstan Joins Abraham Accords: President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev signs up with Trump’s effort to bring together Muslim countries with Israel. This move reinvigorates the U.S.-led framework for Israel-Arab-Muslim cooperation, attempting to signal religious tolerance and regional integration—but there were no prior conflicts between the nations, so does this mean much? Trump is eyeing expansions to Saudi Arabia and beyond to repair Israel's Gaza-war isolation. Can he rehabilitate the Jewish state?

• Airline Chaos Begins: The FAA mandates airlines slashing thousands of flights starting today, grappling with air traffic controller shortages in the longest government shutdown ever. Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy and FAA head Bryan Bedford enforce 10% cuts at 40 high-impact airports, with carriers waiving fees and prioritizing long-haul and international over regional and domestic routes. As of 4:25 a.m. Friday, 815 cancellations and 504 delays mount nationwide, per FlightAware, while analysis shows delays surging to 25% at major hubs. What will be the economic and political impact?

• Airbase Terror Attack: A suspicious package containing white powder forces the evacuation of a building at Joint Base Andrews in Maryland, hospitalizing multiple personnel yesterday. First responders and Hazmat teams clear immediate threats, handing off to investigators probing “political propaganda” inside, as the Air National Guard Readiness Center remains sealed. Trump visited the VIP-transit base Wednesday, heightening scrutiny on this unexplained illness cluster amid ongoing probes. Who is behind this and what’s happening?

• Submarine Hero: Sean Dunn scores a not-guilty verdict for tossing a Subway sandwich at a federal officer during early Trump-era DC enforcement surges. Videos capture Dunn yelling distractions to shield a Latin LGBTQ nightclub from raids before fleeing, symbolizing jest-laced resistance via posters and jokes. Jurors dismiss assault claims after debating the wrapped footlong's harmlessness, and prosecutors receive a clear message about overcharging. Is it open season on ICE?

• Senate Abdicates War Powers on Venezuela: The Senate defeats a bipartisan bill 49-51 requiring a congressional nod for Trump strikes against Venezuela, amid secrecy over cartel boat raids killing nearly 70. Sponsors like Tim Kaine decry expansive presidential powers lacking constitutional backing, urging Congress to reclaim war authority. Only two Republicans defect, as White House briefings on legal rationales sway most, despite frustrations over covert CIA ops and Caribbean military buildup. Will the White House read this as a thumbs-up for war?

cartoonist Ted Rall and CIA whistleblower John Kiriakou catch you up on the one-two punch of Tuesday’s Democratic electoral sweep coupled with the understanding that voters blame Republicans for the shutdown, reduced SNAP benefits, the Obamacare benefits crisis and now, a looming crisis facing America’s aviation system.

• Supreme Court Seems Likely to Overturn Trump's Tariffs: The Supreme Court convenes intense oral arguments, probing Trump's invocation of the 1977 International Emergency Economic Powers Act (IEEPA) to slap sweeping tariffs on imports from dozens of countries, including China, Canada, and Mexico. Justices, including conservatives like Chief Justice John Roberts, Amy Coney Barrett, Neil Gorsuch, and Brett Kavanaugh, voice deep reservations about relying on declared emergencies for unchecked economic powers, questioning if such broad powers unconstitutionally delegate Congress's authority under the major-questions doctrine. As plaintiffs—ranging from toy importers in Illinois to Democratic-led states like Oregon—argue that erratic tariff announcements spike costs and sow uncertainty for businesses, the administration counters by citing historical precedents like Nixon's similar uses, framing a loss as "catastrophic" for U.S. economic health amid global trade wars. Markets rise on the SCOTUS news, signaling Wall Street’s displeasure with Trump’s trade policies.

• Crisis in the Skies: The FAA will reduce flights at dozens of major airports as early as tomorrow if no shutdown deal is reached, Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy announced. Ten percent of air traffic at 40 airports would be cut, though the details of which specific airports will be impacted was not revealed. “As we start to implement this draw down in service, it will be restricted to these 40 high volume traffic markets,” FAA Administrator Bryan Bedford said. “We’re going to ask the airlines to work with us collaboratively to reduce their schedules.” The “draw down in service” at these busy airports comes as air traffic control staffing shortages during the shutdown of have caused delays. Controllers are considered essential employees and must work during the shutdown, but are not being paid. Duffy has said some are calling in sick to work other jobs or as protest for not getting paid.

• White House Blamed for High Prices: As Democrats celebrate the elections, Republican analysts say voters are sending Trump a message: get your eye back on the ball—here in the States. Americans, gripped by economic discontent, prioritize affordability over immigration or culture wars, citing persistent inflation, 22% electricity rate hikes in New Jersey, federal workforce cuts impacting Virginia, and the 36-day government shutdown eroding food assistance and health subsidies. Allies like James Blair and Steve Bannon urge Trump to refocus on pocketbook promises—lowering prices, implementing job-creating investments, and addressing "inherited disasters" from Biden—echoing warnings from Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene that neglecting economic populism invites electoral disaster heading into 2026 midterms.

Political cartoonist Ted Rall and CIA whistleblower John Kiriakou tell you what the Democrats’ elections sweep means and what comes next for the future of their party and the country.

• Zohran Mamdani's Triumph: Once again, “DeProgram” called the election results on the nose, within 0.5 percent. Over two million New Yorkers cast votes, doubling 2021 turnout and electing 34-year-old democratic socialist Zohran Mamdani as New York's 111th mayor, toppling Andrew Cuomo's dynasty-backed machine. Mamdani forges a bold coalition, rallying young gentrifiers in Bushwick alongside working-class South Asian immigrants in Queens, while flipping Bronx and Brooklyn's Black and Latino strongholds by double-digit margins despite $40 million in superPAC smears laced with Islamophobia. This upset signals a generational revolt, with Mamdani poised to tax the ultra-rich for affordability reforms amid Trump's shadow. Is progressivism the future of the Democratic Party?

• Exxon's Covert Climate-Denial Campaign in Latin America: Newly unearthed documents expose that Exxon funneled cash to the Atlas Network in the late 1990s and 2000s, bankrolling Spanish translations of denialist tracts like Fred Singer's anti-Kyoto Treaty screeds and flying U.S. skeptics to Buenos Aires seminars on COP4's eve to sway ministers and media. The strategy sowed doubt about global warming in the Global South, aiming to torpedo UN treaties by stoking economic fears, with $50,000 checks (equivalent to $100,000 today) fueling events that echo today's Amazon tipping points and irreversible coral die-offs. As Brazil gears up for COP30, this revelation underscores fossil fuel giants' enduring sabotage of planetary survival.

• Airspace Chaos Next Week?: Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy threatens to shut down swaths of U.S. airspace next week if the 35-day shutdown persists, citing 3,000-controller shortages fueling "mass chaos" at hubs like JFK and Newark, where lines stretch hours amid fatigue-driven delays. Essential workers are still working without pay, with 393 FAA facilities hitting triggers—four times last year's rate—forcing reduced flight volumes and risking a Thanksgiving meltdown. This brinkmanship pressures Democrats, highlighting Trump's fiscal warfare's human toll on travel and safety.

• The War for the Democratic Party: Center-left Abigail Spanberger storms to Virginia's first female governorship with 57% against Winsome Earle-Sears, while center-left Mikie Sherrill secures New Jersey's helm by double digits, both hammering affordability and Trump cuts amid economic angst. California voters approve Prop 50, redrawing maps for five Democratic House seats, countering GOP gerrymanders as turnout surges in anti-Trump backlash. These wins—from Mamdani's populist fire to moderate surges—expose party fractures over ideology, fueling 2026 midterm battles and a progressive-centrist showdown.

Political cartoonist Ted Rall and CIA whistleblower John Kiriakou explore the legacy of Dick Cheney, America's most powerful modern vice president and chief architect of the "war on terror,” Israel’s top army lawyer imprisoned after she exposed IDF’s sexual abuse of a Palestinian detainee, the shakeup at the Heritage Foundation over Tucker Carlson's interview with Nick Fuentes, and Tanzania's sham elections and resulting street unrest.

• Dick Cheney’s Death: Complications from pneumonia and cardiac disease kill the influential VP at 84, surrounded by loved ones praising his legacy of national service and personal virtues like fly fishing. As the neoconservative architect of post-9/11 wars including the Iraq invasion based on lies, he leaves a polarizing mark, ending his political life by criticizing Trump and endorsing Harris. Recent tributes highlight his bunker directives on 9/11 and unyielding defense of torture, shaping two decades of brutal U.S. foreign policy.

• Israel’s Wrong Scandal: Maj. Gen. Yifat Tomer-Yerushalmi's remains in jail on fraud and obstruction charges, following a frantic beach search sparked by her disappearance post-resignation. The whistleblower leaked a video revealing soldiers' knife sodomy assault on a Palestinian at Sde Teiman, causing severe rectal perforation and rib fractures. Weirdly, Israelis are mad at HER. The saga, also detaining ex-prosecutor Matan Solomesh, amplifies Israel's polarization, eclipsing abuse inquiries amid Netanyahu allies' insults like "resume the lynch."

• Heritage Shakeup: Chief Kevin Roberts announces reassignments amid uproar over defending Tucker Carlson's Nick Fuentes interview. Roberts' reaffirms anti-antisemitism efforts and anti-cancel culture stance, balancing Israel views while pushing Heritage 2.0 unity and moral conviction.

• Tanzania Election Violence: Africa’s crises spread. President Samia Suluhu Hassan takes office privately amid 98% "win" after banning Chadema, with leader Tundu Lissu in solitary on treason charges facing execution, as over 1,000 protesters reportedly die in crackdowns—bodies piling in streets, mass graves piling up under internet blackouts. Schools close, transport stops, hospitals overflow with bullet-riddled youth, despite 2021 reforms now reversed into worse repression than "Bulldozer" Magufuli. Pope Leo calls for dialogue, AU applauds, but opposition vows endurance against the "total sham," echoing African disputed polls in Cameroon and Ivory Coast.

Political cartoonist Ted Rall and CIA whistleblower John Kiriakou explain why Wednesday's landmark hearing before the Supreme Court about President Trump's tariffs may be the most important constitutional case of our lives, how AI spending surges toward $400 billion this year on infrastructure may be a warning sign of a corporate bubble about to burst, how New York City’s big mayoral election tomorrow will widen the schism within the Democratic Party and handicaps the seriousness of Trump’s threats of "guns-a-blazing" military action against Nigeria over alleged Christian persecution.

• Supreme Court Tariff Showdown: The Supreme Court hears arguments Wednesday on Trump's IEEPA tariffs, deciding if the 1970s law authorizes import taxes amid global trade reshaping. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent says that Trump raised alarms on a trade crisis tipping point, justifying emergency leverage like a theoretical pre-2008 housing warning. A loss risks chaotic refunds, revenue dips brightening fiscal outlooks, and undermined deals, curbing the Oval Office's quick "tariff switch."

• AI Bubble Warnings: Tech firms project $400 billion in AI infrastructure spending this year, outpacing Apollo's moon mission costs every 10 months, yet U.S. consumers spend only $12 billion annually on services. Startup “Thinking Machines” secures $2 billion at $10 billion valuation without products, with Mira Murati dodging investor questions in absurd pitches. Hyperscalers use Special Purpose Vehicles and accounting gimmicks to hide high costs and low revenues, driving momentum in stocks detached from fundamentals as usage declines in enterprises.

• NYC Mayoral Frenzy: Candidates crisscross New York’s five boroughs, as early voting surges past 735,000 ballots under sunny skies with 50-minute waits. Democratic socialist Zohran Mamdani mobilizes 100,000 volunteers for 200,000 door knocks, eyeing record-breaking get-out-the-vote amid barbs accusing Andrew Cuomo of being Trump’s puppet. As Mamdani prepares for victory, the progressives-vs-corporatists schism in the Democratic Party will once again explode.

• Trump Thereatens to Invade Nigeria: Trump orders Pentagon planning for potential "guns-a-blazing" intervention in Nigeria, citing Christian persecution and halting aid. Spokesman Daniel Bwala counters that unilateral action is impossible in sovereign Nigeria, blaming misleading outdated Boko Haram reports. Violence impacts Christians and Muslims via insurgents and gangs; Tinubu rejects designation, vowing faith community protections.